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What does Gandhi mean to you?

Its been 59 years to the day when Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. So it is as good a time as ever, to discuss about Mahatma Gandhi, his life and his legacy.

The times we live in are quite astounding, as it would have been, when Gandhiji lived. Then, democracy was important, today personal prosperity engages as much attention.

The question here is, what is the idea of Gandhi inside my head. It would not be improper to say, Gandhi means to me, those images captured in the movie 'Gandhi' and to a lesser extent the images I have seen at Sabarmati Ashram and other places.

It is clear now to the readers that, Gandhi inside my head is the image which has been sold (in the marketing sense) to me. So, its no wonder, Gandhigiri has captured our imagination [Munnabhai was well marketed].

In short, with every passing moment, Gandhi seems not to be a man who lived once on the face of earth but an enshrined image marketed to us.

It doesn't concern me now, what I think of Gandhiji. I am certain of its endurance and if its popular today, it will remain so in the future as some marketeer will find a new method to sale him to us. In this process, we may re-remember the man who for one good reason laid down his life for all of us.

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